06 October 2008

He still don't get it

The Guardian has the story of the CEO roast:
With the startled look of a man unaccustomed to sharp examination, Lehman's chief executive, Richard Fuld, clashed bluntly with the chairman of the House oversight committee, Henry Waxman, on Capitol Hill.
Called upon to explain why Lehman collapsed last month, Fuld began with a note of humility, saying he felt "horrible" over the demise of the 158-year-old institution. "I want to be very clear," said Fuld. "I take full responsibility for the decisions I made and for the actions I took." In a brief speech that was heard in silence, Fuld told lawmakers that if he could turn back the clock, he would do many things differently. As soon as he finished speaking, sparks began to fly.
The chairman of the committee held up a chart suggesting that Fuld's personal remuneration totalled $480m over eight years – including payouts of $91m in 2001 and $89m in 2005. "Your company is now bankrupt and our country is in a state of crisis," said Waxman, a liberal lawmaker from California. "You get to keep $480m. I have a very basic question – is that fair?"
After a long pause, Fuld demurred, saying the figure was exaggerated: "The majority of my compensation, sir, came in stock. The vast majority of the stock I got I still owned at the point of our [bankruptcy] filing."
Waxman cut him off, saying that even if the figure was slightly lower, it was "unimaginable" to much of the public. "Is that fair, for a CEO of a company that's now bankrupt, to make that kind of money? It's just unimaginable to so many people." Waxman asked.
"I would say to you the $500m number is not accurate," said Fuld. "I'd say to you, although it's still a large number, for the years you're talking about here, my cash compensation was close to $60m, which you've indicated here, and I took out closer to $250m [in shares]."
Interrupting again, Waxman listed Fuld's collection of property – including a $14m ocean-front villa in Florida and a home in the exclusive ski resort of Sun Valley, Idaho. "You and your wife have an art collection filled with million dollar paintings," said Waxman. "Your former president, Joe Gregory used to travel to work in a helicopter."
The pugnacious Waxman warmed to his theme: "You made all this money taking risks with other peoples' money."
Refusing to give ground, Fuld said his pay had been set by an independent compensation committee which spent "a tremendous amount of time" making sure executives' interests were aligned with those of shareholders.
"When the company did well, we did well," said Fuld. "When the company did not do well, we didn't do well."
Waxman disagreed: "Mr Fuld, there seems to be a breakdown, because you did very well when the company was doing well and you did well when the company was not doing well. And now your shareholders who owned your company have nothing. They've been wiped out."

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